Page 2953 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 16 October 2007
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issues, many from people distressed about the length of waiting time in emergency departments.
Many other constituents have raised with me concerns about the waiting lists for elective surgery. And again to provide some statistical basis, we know from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare that in 2005-06 it took 61 days for the average patient—that is, at the 50th percentile—to have their procedure. This compares rather poorly with the national average of 32 days. Similarly, patients at the 90th percentile of the elective surgery waiting list can expect to wait 372 days in the ACT, compared to a national average of 237 days. So it is all very well to say, “It is John Howard’s fault, all the health system problems.” But I would need to know why are we having more unique problems in the ACT. Both of these figures, 61 days for the 50th percentile and 370 days for the 90th, are the highest of any jurisdiction in Australia.
I sympathise greatly with constituents who have had to wait for long periods for elective surgery procedures. These procedures are rarely fanciful options but rather are medical necessities to improve a person’s health and ability to operate and function in everyday life. I know there are people out there who do not understand what elective surgery is. Somebody contacted me the other day and said it was wrong that we had this elective surgery; if people wanted cosmetic surgery they should do it at their own expense in their own time. So in the area of health there is quite a challenge, in fact, in even the public fully comprehending the system, let alone fixing it.
Many constituents contact me about the issue and, although the minister does reply to the representations that I make on their behalf, I am afraid that the response that I receive frequently does not contain information that would alleviate a concern or convince a constituent that their problem is being addressed. A typical reply will spruik from the minister the funding that the government has given or has put into elective surgery procedures and it will not address the reasons why ACT residents wait so much longer. Here is a typical one: “Thank you for your letter”—of specified date on behalf of a particular person—“concerning waiting times for elective surgery and hospital-acquired infections,” an issue of serious concern to this constituent. And then we go:
The current ACT Labor government has invested more in funding elective surgery than any government since self-government. Over the last four Budgets, the government has added almost $21 million for elective surgery.
And on and on and on it goes, speaking in the generic. It finally says:
Thanks for raising this matter with me, and I hope you pass this on to the constituent.
I did, and I do always but, if you put yourself in that position of the constituent who has actually expressed certain concerns about their experience, you really do not want a piece of generic propaganda. And what it does make people think is that the real concerns are falling on deaf ears, and I feel that in this Assembly because Mr Corbell gets up here and talks about, “Gee, we are all going wonderfully well.”
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